obama is preferring a $250,000 threshold, but in the process of trying to hammer out the deal, it is raised to $400,000 or $500,0 $500,000, and the base is going to be angry about that, and that is offset by satisfaction that some of the entitlement reforms that the president had signed off on earlier such as changing the structure for social security will not likely be in this deal, and obviously, everything remains to be seen, and the estate tax is a big sticking point, because obama wants to see it go up, and the senate republicans will insist that it stay at the current rate. >> thank you, robert costa and sam stein. we will be back in a moment. this is "hardball," the place for politics. >>> welcome back to hardball. what will a deal look like if there is one? and who is going to wind up giving up more on the tax cuts for wealthy americans? harry reid insists $250,000 is a threshold, but it may not hold. joining me now is josh green of bloomberg business week. josh, for the markets, for the business community, whether it is $250,000 and i know sit is a big deal for the politicia